ED NU, UVA, or NYU? 3.2, 173 STEM Forum

[alenafaron]

Hi all, I would appreciate it immensely if you guys could give me your two cents about my approach to the application process.

Stats:

uGPA: 3.2
LSAT: 173
Non--URM
CA resident

Major: Majored in one of the hard sciences (was pre-med until senior spring)
College: Consistently ranked as one of the top five colleges in US by US News, Forbes, etc
Grad School: Will be starting grad school at large Ivy League university with a STEM/Health policy type MS
LOR's: Excellent (will be from my academic advisor/thesis professor and research advisor(s)/other professors depending on number of LOR's)
EC's: All health related--four years of research at top research universities (with publications), hundreds of hours of meaningful hospital volunteering/clinics serving underserved populations/physician shadowing, varsity athlete and captain for 4 years and NCAA All American (do sports EC's play a role at all? I don't think they do but correct me if I'm wrong.)

When and Where I'll apply: I am applying early October to the T20, but obviously I want to attend one of the T14. Obtaining scholarships will not be strictly necessary, but will be nice to have (I don't know if law schools would view me more favorably if I do not require their money or money only plays a role if you donate 10 million and a new library wing)

Reason for low GPA: I had an extremely mentally ill friend for most of undergrad and I felt compelled to take care of her which pulled down my GPA because I allotted no time to study. After two and a half years, I decided this was not healthy for either of us so I gradually focused more on my own academics and I pulled my grades up from a 2.5. There is also grade deflation at my school, but not much.

Dilemma: I'm very new to this law school application process. I've been reading blogs and forums incessantly, and I think I would qualify as a splitter. In light of this, I think I might be accepted into one of the T14 schools, and thus am proceeding with the application process for this cycle. My main questions are:

1) How should I best represent myself to law schools? I would like to add an addendum to explain my low GPA, but I do not want to infringe on my friend's privacy, nor do I want to come across as using the situation as an "excuse" for my GPA.

2) I feel like I have no relevant law experience, besides potentially using my health/research background to emphasize my interest in health law, pharmaceutical law, and/or patent law. I do not have any amazing directly law-related soft's. How should I work around this/strengthen my application for all schools while still meeting this cycle's application deadlines?

3) Northwestern appears to be a very splitter friendly school and seems like my best shot, but it does not have a health law program, so perhaps my splitter status with a health focused app will not help me gain entry to this school. I'm toying with EDing to UVA as it does have a health law program and it is also splitter friendly school, thoughts on this?

4) Are there additional schools should I apply to or should I just stick with T20 because it might not worth going to law school unless you're in the T14?

Any advice, commentary, and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[cavalier1138]

1. I don't know that your addendum needs to be as specific as you're thinking. You can just highlight that you improved, and that will likely be enough.

2. If you want to go into healthcare law, then you have a ton of relevant experience. You'll stand out from a crowd of K-JDs who spent all their summers working at dad's law firm to make it look like they were really committed to the field. So just keep pursuing what you're interested in, and don't worry too much about focusing on the law before you're actually a lawyer.

3. I know very little about health law programs, so I'd advise asking around at firms that handle these kinds of things to see where those attorneys are being hired from. That said, ED at Northwestern is a good idea, because it guarantees $150k in scholarship money. ED at UVA, splitter-friendly as they are, is a bad idea, because it pretty much guarantees that you'll pay sticker.

4. Again, not my field of expertise, but I know that healthcare law is quite competitive. So you either want to go to a top-ranked school, or you want to go to a top regional school with strong placement power in its region for healthcare law. If you're relatively set on working in a specific area of the country, then I'd start by focusing your attention on the latter, since you're more likely to end up with good money from the top regional school. If not, your numbers don't entirely eliminate T-14 options, but you'll probably have a very unpredictable cycle.

[argusblade]

lol people think having a STEM major makes up for a bad gpa .... hate to break it to you but with your stats you're not going to get into anywhere near the top 14 especially cause you're not URM. 173 isn't really that high. break 176 and then you can start considering law school. otherwise just go be a nurse or something. ur softs aren't impressive either. if i was part of an adcom i'd pass over you without a second look

[Nachoo2019]

lol people think having a STEM major makes up for a bad gpa .... hate to break it to you but with your stats you're not going to get into anywhere near the top 14 especially cause you're not URM. 173 isn't really that high. break 176 and then you can start considering law school. otherwise just go be a nurse or something. ur softs aren't impressive either. if i was part of an adcom i'd pass over you without a second look

Hey OP,I just thought I'd let you know that this poster is either stupid or trolling. You will likely snag Northwester/GULC and possibly one or more of MVPD. You may be paying sticker or close to it though.

What do you mean when you say you don't need the schools money?


Edit: also you stem/graduate background will be more than enough to show employers you want health law. Specialty programs like health law should not factor into your decision between T-14 schools.

[Mullens]

lol people think having a STEM major makes up for a bad gpa .... hate to break it to you but with your stats you're not going to get into anywhere near the top 14 especially cause you're not URM. 173 isn't really that high. break 176 and then you can start considering law school. otherwise just go be a nurse or something. ur softs aren't impressive either. if i was part of an adcom i'd pass over you without a second look

This post is so laughably wrong that it should be ignored. A 173 and a 176 are effectively the same all all T14s below HYS since you're over the LSAT 75th. Since you're already disclosed from those schools due to your GPA, retaking makes no difference.

You'll probably get into several T14s as a splitter. Where can be hard to predict. Not sure if you'll get into NU through ED but it might be your best shot at big money. Apply broadly to the T14 from CCN down and you'll get some good options by the end of your cycle. You might get waitlisted at a lot of schools but it'll work out for you in the end.

As far as health law programs, or really any specialty programs, theyre mostly just marketing fodder and complete bs so just focus on getting into the best law school.

[mildred]

If you don't care about monster loans, ED to NYU. I had similar numbers with worse softs and was accepted via ED. No problemo.

[alenafaron]

lol people think having a STEM major makes up for a bad gpa .... hate to break it to you but with your stats you're not going to get into anywhere near the top 14 especially cause you're not URM. 173 isn't really that high. break 176 and then you can start considering law school. otherwise just go be a nurse or something. ur softs aren't impressive either. if i was part of an adcom i'd pass over you without a second look

Hey OP,I just thought I'd let you know that this poster is either stupid or trolling. You will likely snag Northwester/GULC and possibly one or more of MVPD. You may be paying sticker or close to it though.

What do you mean when you say you don't need the schools money?


Edit: also you stem/graduate background will be more than enough to show employers you want health law. Specialty programs like health law should not factor into your decision between T-14 schools.

I'm very lucky in the sense that my family will be funding my education, so I will not *need* scholarships. Of course, I would like to get scholarships to lessen the financial burden, but if it will make a difference to the schools giving me acceptances, my family is willing to help me out because getting into law school is the priority here. Thank you for the advice and encouragement!

[alenafaron]

lol people think having a STEM major makes up for a bad gpa .... hate to break it to you but with your stats you're not going to get into anywhere near the top 14 especially cause you're not URM. 173 isn't really that high. break 176 and then you can start considering law school. otherwise just go be a nurse or something. ur softs aren't impressive either. if i was part of an adcom i'd pass over you without a second look

This post is so laughably wrong that it should be ignored. A 173 and a 176 are effectively the same all all T14s below HYS since you're over the LSAT 75th. Since you're already disclosed from those schools due to your GPA, retaking makes no difference.

You'll probably get into several T14s as a splitter. Where can be hard to predict. Not sure if you'll get into NU through ED but it might be your best shot at big money. Apply broadly to the T14 from CCN down and you'll get some good options by the end of your cycle. You might get waitlisted at a lot of schools but it'll work out for you in the end.

As far as health law programs, or really any specialty programs, theyre mostly just marketing fodder and complete bs so just focus on getting into the best law school.

Hi there! I will blanket the T14's and for my personal statements, focus on my interest in healthcare law. The unpredictability of my cycle makes me the most nervous, but also I think it could be likely that I'll get accepted into at least one of the T14. Thank you for the advice, I will not retake.

[alenafaron]

If you don't care about monster loans, ED to NYU. I had similar numbers with worse softs and was accepted via ED. No problemo.

Okay, that is good and comforting to hear! I'll think a little more about EDing to NYU. Could you describe your application process more? What do you think made you stand out?

[alenafaron]

lol people think having a STEM major makes up for a bad gpa .... hate to break it to you but with your stats you're not going to get into anywhere near the top 14 especially cause you're not URM. 173 isn't really that high. break 176 and then you can start considering law school. otherwise just go be a nurse or something. ur softs aren't impressive either. if i was part of an adcom i'd pass over you without a second look

Well, all I can say is, I'm glad you're not on an admissions committee. Thanks for your input though--I think this is one of those cases during which it might be prudent to take your advice with a grain of salt.

[foregetaboutdre]

If you don't care about monster loans, ED to NYU. I had similar numbers with worse softs and was accepted via ED. No problemo.

Okay, that is good and comforting to hear! I'll think a little more about EDing to NYU. Could you describe your application process more? What do you think made you stand out?

I ED'ed where I'm currently at. Would not recommend it to be honest (besides at NU). It's just simply not worth it IMHO. I've always been curious where I could of gotten into and what aid I would have gotten. (I too have parents funding). I do not think EDing would honestly make sense w/ your numbers besides if you took a shot at like H. (or ED VA, NU, etc..)

[alenafaron]

If you don't care about monster loans, ED to NYU. I had similar numbers with worse softs and was accepted via ED. No problemo.

Okay, that is good and comforting to hear! I'll think a little more about EDing to NYU. Could you describe your application process more? What do you think made you stand out?

I ED'ed where I'm currently at. Would not recommend it to be honest (besides at NU). It's just simply not worth it IMHO. I've always been curious where I could of gotten into and what aid I would have gotten. (I too have parents funding). I do not think EDing would honestly make sense w/ your numbers besides if you took a shot at like H. (or ED VA, NU, etc..)

Okay. I think for me EDing would make sense at splitter friendly schools (UVA and NU). I would like to hear what mildred did though, to get a spot before I make a final decision =]

[still]

lol people think having a STEM major makes up for a bad gpa .... hate to break it to you but with your stats you're not going to get into anywhere near the top 14 especially cause you're not URM. 173 isn't really that high. break 176 and then you can start considering law school. otherwise just go be a nurse or something. ur softs aren't impressive either. if i was part of an adcom i'd pass over you without a second look

lol i got into at least one t-14 (not gulc btw) with both gpa and lsat slightly worse than OP's as a stem non-urm. my softs were probably a bit better but it doesnt matter much either way

also mylsn said that according to my numbers it was virtually impossible for me to get into said t-14. i also overperformed my numbers w regards to scholarship offers by a good bit at most of the schools i was accepted to. its likely my stem+softs had something to do with it but hey maybe i was just lucky

a STEM major wont give as a much of a boost as one would hope (and oftentimes not any at all) but to say you need a 176 to compensate for it is laughable.

you still need to work your ass off to get a 3.2 in a difficult major at a grade deflated school so the addcoms will probably know at least youre not lazy like a 3.2 in communications would suggest

[still]

If you don't care about monster loans, ED to NYU. I had similar numbers with worse softs and was accepted via ED. No problemo.

Okay, that is good and comforting to hear! I'll think a little more about EDing to NYU. Could you describe your application process more? What do you think made you stand out?

I ED'ed where I'm currently at. Would not recommend it to be honest (besides at NU). It's just simply not worth it IMHO. I've always been curious where I could of gotten into and what aid I would have gotten. (I too have parents funding). I do not think EDing would honestly make sense w/ your numbers besides if you took a shot at like H. (or ED VA, NU, etc..)

Okay. I think for me EDing would make sense at splitter friendly schools (UVA and NU). I would like to hear what mildred did though, to get a spot before I make a final decision =]

use this as a guide
http://mylsn.info/r3h3ux/

tweak numbers/ranges as you see fit.

dont ED to UVA. you have a decent shot at UVA regardless and you dont want to be locked in with no $. No matter how rich youre parents are you're still looking at potentially six figures of money out the window for a little peace of mind from early acceptance.

NU ED is actually damn hard to get iirc bc it comes with a big scholarship. NU also really prefers candidates w at least one year professional work experience. dont wanna sound like a downer but you'll probably get deferred to the regular applicant pool. you still have a decent shot at regular acceptance or hold/wl -> acceptance bc your numbers

if you absolutely want to get into the best ranked / most prestigious school as possible consider EDing to NYU or PENN. not sure if penn has an ED program though

also dont choose to ED or not to ED at a school just bc it doesnt have a particular programmatic offering (in this case health law). For those kinds of specialized fields usually your undergrad gpa / experience / law school gpa / personal connections matter much more than whether you took a health law specialization in law school

patent law is something i'd strongly consider as well. big law / big IP boutique firms will love that youre getting grad degree in a STEM field (preferably engineering, CS, harder science as opposed to bio/biochem/etc)

[alenafaron]

If you don't care about monster loans, ED to NYU. I had similar numbers with worse softs and was accepted via ED. No problemo.

Okay, that is good and comforting to hear! I'll think a little more about EDing to NYU. Could you describe your application process more? What do you think made you stand out?

I ED'ed where I'm currently at. Would not recommend it to be honest (besides at NU). It's just simply not worth it IMHO. I've always been curious where I could of gotten into and what aid I would have gotten. (I too have parents funding). I do not think EDing would honestly make sense w/ your numbers besides if you took a shot at like H. (or ED VA, NU, etc..)

Okay. I think for me EDing would make sense at splitter friendly schools (UVA and NU). I would like to hear what mildred did though, to get a spot before I make a final decision =]

use this as a guide
http://mylsn.info/r3h3ux/

tweak numbers/ranges as you see fit.

dont ED to UVA. you have a decent shot at UVA regardless and you dont want to be locked in with no $. No matter how rich youre parents are you're still looking at potentially six figures of money out the window for a little peace of mind from early acceptance.

NU ED is actually damn hard to get iirc bc it comes with a big scholarship. NU also really prefers candidates w at least one year professional work experience. dont wanna sound like a downer but you'll probably get deferred to the regular applicant pool. you still have a decent shot at regular acceptance or hold/wl -> acceptance bc your numbers

if you absolutely want to get into the best ranked / most prestigious school as possible consider EDing to NYU or PENN. not sure if penn has an ED program though

also dont choose to ED or not to ED at a school just bc it doesnt have a particular programmatic offering (in this case health law). For those kinds of specialized fields usually your undergrad gpa / experience / law school gpa / personal connections matter much more than whether you took a health law specialization in law school

patent law is something i'd strongly consider as well. big law / big IP boutique firms will love that youre getting grad degree in a STEM field (preferably engineering, CS, harder science as opposed to bio/biochem/etc)

Thanks for your reply. Your advice makes sense. I'm basically dancing between wanting some peace of mind and getting a bit of money. I'll think about EDing to NYU some more. Also, my bachelor's degree was in the life sciences so I don't think patent law firms would look upon that as favorably.

[WatchClosely]

.

[mildred]

If you don't care about monster loans, ED to NYU. I had similar numbers with worse softs and was accepted via ED. No problemo.

Okay, that is good and comforting to hear! I'll think a little more about EDing to NYU. Could you describe your application process more? What do you think made you stand out?

Sure, just PM me -

[alenafaron]

You're correct that Northwestern does like to accept splitters, but you should know that they do not like to accept those splitters through their ED program, preferring instead to defer them to RD and then admit them.

That was what happened to me and to pretty much every other splitter on TLS during the most recent application cycle.

Okay. I think I'm going to apply RD then to all the schools. Might ED NYU, still deciding.

[Mullens]

If you're going to ED anywhere, it should be NU (Northwestern) and not NYU. NYU at sticker costs like $325,000.

[alenafaron]

If you're going to ED anywhere, it should be NU (Northwestern) and not NYU. NYU at sticker costs like $325,000.

Yeah =[ The struggle between having peace of mind and money.

[alenafaron]

Okay, I decided on RDing to all the T14. Thanks for all the advice!